The clouds had darkened the sky. Flashes of lightning illuminated the bleak havens as the volcano below it bubbled and smoked. All around, as far as the eye could see were the green treetops of the rain forest. Strolling towards the fiery mountain was a cloaked man. His boots crunches over the grassy earth as a gold medallion shone brightly on the clasp of his cloak.
The man pulled down his hood, revealing a man with short black hair and a thin goatee. He unfurled his cloak, revealing his beige, explorer’s attire and cackled evilly to the heavens. “It is almost time!” He pulled out a golden scepter from his satchel. “Once I have all three relics, no one will be able to stop me! And Marapore will fall!”
He grasped the scepter with both hands and raised it high into the air. “For I…am Stalwart Stallioooo-!”
“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Rainbow Dash interjected, forcing the man to pause mid-rant.
“CUT!” The director called out in response to her interruption. All eyes turned to the Rainbow haired girl. Her friends stood beside her while Spike was in a director’s chair right next to the Director of the movie.
“Sorry!” She apologized. “But at this point in the story, Stalwart Stallion would be known as Mojo.” As she explained, Twilight was miming her to be quiet, something she took notice of.
“What? You want Daring Do fans to call him out for making a mistake like that?”Her friends just sighed in exasperation with her antics. They understood that she was a hardcore Daring Do fan, but she needs to learn when to draw the line.
Rolling his eyes, the Director continued. “Alright, let’s go again. And this time, say Mojo instead of Stalwart Stallion, okay? And action!” The video shoot continued, leaving Rainbow Dash grinning in excitement.
However, there was an additional uninvited guest. Up in the studio rafters, unseen by the workers below, sat Blood Stalk on one of the cross beams. He lazily swung his leg in the air while drumming his fingers on his knee. “Meh, the girl’s right. The scene could’ve been better from the start. But what else would you expect from movie adaptations?” He shifted in his seat to get a better look. “Well, at least they’re trying. So why not see how it goes?”
The Rainbooms looked around in amazement as they were led through the studio of the Daring Do movie. The one leading them through the building was Canter Zoom, a well-known movie director. He was a middle aged man with light orange skin and green hair tied in a short pony tail with a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in beige slacks, a green dress shirt, and a tan cargo vest with brown loafers.
While Twilight Sparkle was definitely amazed, she was still troubled. After the Faust raid, and upon the discovery of Night Rogue being Dusk Walker, her parents had been swamped by the media for questions given how Dusk was their secretary.
The situation had gotten stressful for her family, but they didn’t want her to be swept up in it as well. As a result, they allowed her to go on the trip with her friends. Fortunately, they had been supportive and tried to help her feel better about the situation. As of now, she tried to forget her family worries and try to enjoy the tour.
“I can’t believe we’re really here!” Rainbow squealed excitedly.
“Thank you so much for letting us come, Mr. Zoom.” Twilight said gratefully.
“We promise we won’t get in the way…again.” Sunset leered at the athlete, who could only chuckle nervously.
“Well, as a fellow Camp Everfree Alumnus I was more than happy to afford the girls who helped save it the chance to visit the set of our little film.”
“L-little?” Rainbow scoffed. “This is Daring Do we’re talking about, here! This movie is gonna be huge!”
“Uh, excuse me.” A studio worker spoke with Director Zoom. “We have a problem in wardrobe. They can’t find the costume Daring Do is supposed to wear in the Night Club scene.”
The director face palmed. “If we’re ever gonna finish it, it will be.” He mumbled before smiling back at the girls. “If you’ll excuse me…” He and the worker left to settle the issue.
“This is going to be awesome!” Rainbow repeated. “We’re going to see all the sets and scenes before anyone else! And with Faust gone, nothing and ruin this!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack swatted her friend’s arm. She gestured to the dismayed Twilight, who had been directly affected by the incident the other day.
“Oh…right…sorry about that Twi.” The athlete sheepishly apologized.
“How are you holding up?” Sunset asked in concern.
“Well, could be better. Just wish I could say the same for my parents.” In the aftermath of the successful Faust raid led by her brother. Her parents had been hounded by the media wanting answers to Dusk Walker being Faust’s leader. They wanted to know if her parents had any idea about his affiliation from the start and been trying to push back the tides of reporters and interviews.
Her dad had been devastated by the revelation. To learn that one of his most trusted subordinates had been a traitor all along. Her mother was equally distraught, remembering Dusk Walker as reliable co-worker and assistant.
What’s more, she couldn’t help but notice that her brother was acting…off lately. He seemed more distant at times. Especially after the Raid. And he had been coming home later than usual. He claimed it was overtime at the station, but she had a gut feeling something was wrong. Especially in prior instances when he didn’t seem to believe her about Faust.
“I’m sorry to hear about Dusk Walker.” The otherworldly girl continued. “None of us could have known. None of us were even aware until he revealed himself.”
“Even so, I’ve never seen my parents so disheartened. And Shining…lately I can barely recognize him.”
“Is it because of what happened at the end of the raid?” Rarity questioned.
The lavender haired girl numbly nodded. During his role in the press conference, he had admitted to shooting Dusk Walker, claiming he had been acting hostile and resisted capture. He had no choice but to use lethal force. And he didn’t even bat an eye at the fact he killed him. She knew her brother tried to separate personal feelings from work, but never had she seen him act so coldly, as if Dusk was an irredeemable criminal that must be put down.
Granted, given his status as Faust’s leader and what they were doing to people, it made sense. She was just having a hard time wrapping her head around everything. “And that’s worse is that Blood Stalk…he never turned up at the Raid. Neither did Pandora’s Box. He’s still out there, doing who knows what? I just….I just don’t know what to do…”
“Twilight…” Spike whimpered. He hated seeing his owner and friend like this. He padded over and nuzzled her leg.
Pinkie was the first to glomp her in a comforting hug. “It’ll be okay, Sci-Twi. We’re all here for you. If you need to cry, we’ll cry with you. But know we’ll all be there for you. Right girls?”
“Right.” The rest pulled in for a whole group hug, comforting their intellectual friend. “Whatever Stalk has planned or wherever he is…we’ll be ready for him.”
“Thank you guys…thanks so much…” Touched by their actions, Twilight couldn’t help but shed a tear.
“No problem. We’re your friends.” Sunset Shimmer nodded in support. The lavender haired girl nodded in agreement, feeling much better, something everyone was relieved for.
“So…what should we do now?” Pinkie asked.
“Well…according to our visitor’s schedules, they won’t be starting the next scene for a while.” Twilight said after pulling out said schedule. “So which means we’ll be able to-“
“-get my picture taken with Chestnut Magnifico! The actress playing Daring Do~!” Rarity squealed ecstatically.
“And ask her to sign my petition to bring more bird feeders to Canterlot High.” Fluttershy added hopefully.
The other girls looked at her in confusion after hearing that statement. How was that related? The pink haired girl noted the looked and explained while snuggling Spike in her arms. “Chestnut Magnifico is an avid supporter of the foundation that helps build homes for animals in need.”
“O-oh, okay. But I was thinking we could-“ Twilight said before she was interrupted again.
“Check out all the sets?” Sunset suggested excitedly.
“Ah’d sure like ta take a closer look at that volcano.” Applejack added in agreement.
“Actually I thought we’d-“
“Find a buffet!” Spike exclaimed. Pinkie Pie scooted over and grabbed Spike before lifting him in the air.
“And the Cupcake Fountain!”
Now it was Pinkie’s turn to be the target of strange looks. “I…don’t know what a cupcake fountain is, but I’m pretty sure they don’t have that.” Rainbow stated.
“Of course they do!” The party planner said as she pulled out a pamphlet. “I found it in my hundred things you didn’t know about this studio insider tour guide.”
“Is the number one thing we didn’t know that the guy who founded this studio was an eccentric oddball with a sweet tooth?” Applejack asked jokingly.
Pinkie Pie blinked before she read her guide again and nodded energetically. “Yes!”
Twilight glanced around at her friends. “…I guess we’re splitting up, then?” All heads nodded. The others went off their respective ways, leaving Rainbow Dash and Twilight alone.
“Well, I don’t suppose you want to-“
“Check out the props that A.K. Yearling designed especially for the movie?!” Rainbow finished.
“It’s like you read my mind!” The intellectual said, equally hyped. The two then made their way to their desired destination. Up above, Blood Stalk was idly watching.
“Isn’t friendship just simply beautiful?” He sniffed as he spied on the group of friends. “…such a shame that I’ll have to destroy it eventually. But a cupcake fountain…? That sounds like a fun idea!” He disappeared in a cloud of mist.
Meanwhile…
Inside Team Build’s base, Micro was hard at work at the super computer. He had finally decrypted the files for Project Sclash. The information he attained from reading them simply astounded him.
To think his brother was working on a greater level of Drivers after the Build Driver. Granted, there were complications involved. The test data was incomplete. Meaning that there was no indication whether or not a specific hazard level is used. The Drivers also required an item called a Schlashjelly. These are items similar to the Fullbottles. However, the substance within is made from taking the liquid state of Nebula Gas within the Fullbottles and transforming them into a gel.
Based on the research documents he read, the project was ultimately incomplete. But the foundation was there. All Micro needed to do was apply it. “With this…we’ll have the advantage over Faust for once…” He murmured.
“Hey Micro!” Sandalwood called out from the upper floor. His shout alerted the glasses-wearing teen and he closed the windows. He quickly pulled up a map of the city and resumed tracking the Box.
“You guys are late. What took you so long?” He asked back, acting nonchalant.
“There was a huge crowd at the mall. Took us longer than expected.”
“It should NOT have taken two hours just to get lunch.” Flash complained as he, Sandalwood and Sol entered the room. “The only reason it did was because the people there wanted your autograph, and we had to stay for the restaurant owner to take your picture and talk with you.”
“Hey, at least we got lunch half-off.” Sol argued. “The owner insisted. What a nice guy.”
“Whatever, let’s just eat. I’m starving.” The teens broke out the takeout containers and chop sticks. The delicious smell of lo mein wafted throughout the room. The four immediately went to work and consumed their lunch. Within minutes were four empty containers.
“Man…that hit the spot.” Sol patted his stomach. “Those were good noodles. They sure didn’t skimp on the meat.”
“Yeah. By the way, how’s the progress in tracking the Box, Micro?” Flash questioned.
“Same old, same old unfortunately. I’m having some trouble locking down the signature. And I haven’t been able to track the bug you put on Night Rogue either. It’s either he hasn’t transformed, or something is jamming the signal.” Micro shook his head.
“So we’re back to square one then? Bummer.” The eco teen sighed.
“I’ll keep looking. But I’m not sure how much further I can get until I can isolate the signal of either one.”
“So more waiting? So boring…!” Sol groaned as he fell flat on his back.
“Hey, you’re not the one working hard trying to find the Box, musclehead!” Micro snapped back.
“But there’s no action until we do! Remind me again why we couldn’t have gone with the girls to the studio?” The fighter wondered.
“That’s because the invite was only extended to them, seeing as how they’re the ones that saved Camp Everfree.” Flash answered.
“Oh, right…I wonder what kind of fun they’re having now.”
After splitting up, Rarity and Fluttershy went to Chestnut Magnifico’s trailer. However, the actress had a diva tantrum with her manager on the phone and stormed off, not even noticing them.
Sunset and Applejack walked through the volcano set, wondering how long it took to set up the various stages. They found a wrapper for a Bon Mont peanut butter praline crunch bar on stage surprisingly.
Rainbow and Twilight found themselves in the city stage and saw the three artifact props for the Daring Do movie. They consisted of the staff, sword, and arrow from the novels. And there they met Juniper Montage, Canter Zoom’s niece and assistant. She was a girl their age with pale skin and long teal hair tied in pig tails with cinema tape hair ties. She wore a light blue blouse with a purple jacket over it and black pencil skirt. She also wore a pair of purple rimmed glasses and a gold bangle on her left wrist.
The three instantly hit it off after learning how she got A.K. Yearling to sign the latest Daring Do book. And she offered to show them around the studio using the various keys she has for complete access.
And last but not least, Pinkie Pie and Spike were in the concession stands. The former was seated in a chair while the latter sat on the shelf next to her. All around them were empty wrappers of peanut butter praline crunch bars. The fizzy haired girl sighed as she went over her list.
“Haa…three lunch buffets, six different kinds of fondue, and two rooms with nothing but candy….and still no Cupcake Fountain!” She then shrugged. “Oh well. At least we found those peanut butter praline crunch bars. They weren’t in my guide book, but they sure were delicious!”
“Ah~ I’ll say. Think they got any more?” Spike asked.
“Ah! One more month, Chestnut that is all we need!” Both pairs of eyes snapped over to the table, where they saw Canter Zoom pleading to an irate Chestnut Magnifico. She was a tanned girl with blonde hair with pink highlights tied up in a bun. She was dressed in a pink dress and white short sleeved cardigan. She also appeared to be looking for something.
“I’m doing everything I can to keep us on schedule. But with all the setbacks we’ve had I don’t think we can do it! If you can just agree to stay on for one more month!” He begged.
“Unacceptable!” She snapped.
“But-!”
“Where…are my imported peanut putter praline crunch bars?!”
Pinkie’s and Spike’s eyes shrunk in realization. Uh-oh. “…Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that Cupcake Fountain.” The latter suggested. The former nodded, picked him up, and quietly snuck away.
Once the two were out of sight and earshot, they finally relaxed. “Phew…that was close.”
“Yeah…who knew Chestnut loved her crunch bars?” Spike wondered as he hopped out of her arms. “Now I feel bad that we ate them all.”
“Me too, Spike. But let this be our little secret, okay?”
“Got it.”
“What secret?”
The new voice caused the two to jump with a yelp. They quickly turned around, and were surprised to see a familiar face.
“Based on your reactions…are you two in trouble or something?” Silver Speech asked as he held onto an empty cooler.
“Hoh! Silver!” Pinkie Pie skipped over and jumped on the man for a hug. “I can’t believe it! What are you doing here?!”
“Guh! N-Nice to see you too…Pinkie Pie…!” Silver gasped out from the bone crushing hug. He took a huge gulp of air when she finally released him. “Whew…you sure give strong hugs.”
“Yep! One of my many specialties~!” She smiled.
“So, what are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t come. And didn’t you have work today?” Spike pointed out.
“I’m actually on the job right now. You see, the Cakes actually had a delivery order for several dozen cupcakes to the studio. I just finished dropping them off and had some extra time. The workers were nice enough to let me look around for a bit as long as it’s not the set itself.”
“Wow! I didn’t know that! Were you trying to surprise us?” She asked teasingly.
“Not really. It was a last minute thing. Apparently their original catering shipment for cupcakes failed to deliver, so they called Sugar Cube Corner for a resupply.”
“Cupcake shipment? But I thought the Studio’s Cupcake Fountain to take care of that.” Pinkie wondered.
“Cupcake Fountain?” He asked in confusion. “Is that really a thing? How does that even work?”
“Uh-huh! It’s on my tour guide! See?” She held it up for him to look at.
“….huh. Well I’ll be darned. I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t see it when you were looking around?” Spike asked.
“Nope. If I had, I probably would’ve found it with all the other cupcakes I dropped off.” Silver shook his head. “Well, I think I spent enough time here. I better get back to the café. The Cakes are still working hard during the lunch rush. It was nice seeing you here.” He waved goodbye and left.
“Bye! See you again soon!” Pinkie waved until he was out of sight.
“Well, I guess our Cupcake Fountain search was a bust.” Spike frowned. “Still, I was surprised to see him here.”
“Me too. Good thing the Cakes were able to make all those cupcakes on such short notice.”
Then they heard a loud clang and an angry scream behind them, likely from Chestnut. “…now if only someone put in a rush order for those crunch bars…” The two then skedaddled on out of there.
The two fell out of sight. Minutes later, a familiar red armored figure stepped out of the shadows…..strangely munching on a cupcake…through his helmet. “Mmm…that Cupcake Fountain was delicious…good thing I stole it for later.” He then snuck away to follow Pinkie Pie.
Later, the Rainbooms regrouped on the Volcano set where the next scene was about to be filmed. “ou guys should’ve seen the relics….they were amazing!” Rainbow Dash squealed loudly.
“Quiet on set! Please!” Canter Zoom scolded. He had a stressful day with all the delays and just wanted to keep things on schedule without additional interruptions.
“Hehe…sorry.” She apologized. “Maybe I’ll just go take one more peek at them.” She then dashed off to their stored location.
“Thank you.” The director sighed. “And…Action!”
The actor that played Stalwart Stallion/Mojo approached the volcano was ominous music played. However, the volcano prop started to shake before it caved in on itself, causing everyone to gasp and the actor to flee from the stage.
“Cut! Cut! CUUUT!!!” Canter yelled. Once the dust settled, the volcano…or what was left of it, was a complete mess. Half of it had broken off and collapsed in on itself. “What is going on here? We just filmed on this volcano and it was fine! This could set us back weeks…!” He lamented. Just when things couldn’t get any worse…
“They’re gone!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she ran up to the group. “They’re all gone!”
“….what’s gone?” The director asked, too afraid to know and sincerely hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was.”
“The relics!” Juniper answered as she ran up next to Rainbow Dash.
Everyone was screamed in shock.
Meanwhile, Blood Stalk watched all of the commotion from his rafter seat. “…Dun dun duuun…!”
After their brief panic episode, the Rainbooms rushed over to the stage where the relics were kept. “I wanted to check them again up close, and they weren’t there!” Rainbow explained.
“This…can’t be…happening!” Canter screamed. “What are we gonna do?!”
“Couldn’t you just get the prop department to make new ones?” Sunset suggested.
“The missing relics were personally approved by A.K. Yearling herself!” He rubbed the space between his eyes to ease the stress. “We could have new ones made but we can’t use them until Yearling has given her official stamp of approval! You think it’d be easy to reach someone who’s holed up in her office writing, but Miss Yearling is a very difficult woman to track down…”
“It’ll be okay though…right?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“Miss Chestnut’s contract is almost up! And with Mt. Vahoovius collapsing and now THIS?! I fear we’ll have to stop production all together!” The director said sadly.
“But…but you’ll have to finish this movie! Think of all the Daring Do fans that’ll be so disappointed if you don’t!” Rainbow desperately urged.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do to-?” Twilight asked before a loud crash cut her off.
“I-IIII’m so sorry…” Canter apologized. “Please excuse me…” he walked off to go face the music. Juniper smiled apologetically before following her uncle.
The girls and Spike were left alone, distraught by the unfortunate turn of events. They all looked at one another in confusion save for Twilight, who hummed in thought.
“Now that I think about it, there was trouble with one of the costumes when we first arrived.” She stated before pacing. “A set that was fine yesterday just collapsed. And now the most important props of the movie had been stolen. I don’t think these are just coincidences.”
Me neither.” Sunset agreed. “All these things that happened on set have put production on hold.” She inspected the empty display case.”It seems like someone is going through a lot of trouble to make sure that this movie doesn’t get made.”
“So…who could it be?” Spike asked. Fluttershy then gasped.
“You…you don’t think…” She glanced at Rarity, who quickly caught on.
“Hm? Oh no no no…surely it couldn’t be.” The girls looked them in confusion while Sunset twirled her finger, gesturing them to continue.
The fashionista and care taker glanced at one another before the latter spoke. “When Rarity and I followed Chestnut Magnifico to her trailer, we overheard her saying something about shutting down the movie.”
“Well, she said she wanted something shut down. We don’t know if she was talking about the movie.” Rarity supplied.
“Maybe she’s just really mad that they’re always running out of her imported praline crunch bars.” Pinkie Pie popped in next to her.
Now it was Sunset and Applejack’s turn to glance at each other before the former pulled out a wrapper of the aforementioned candy bar from her pocket. “Bon Mont butter praline crunch bars?”
“Those are the ones ~!”
“We may have…tried a few ourselves. Ehehe.” Spike chuckled nervously.
“We found this on the Mount Vahoovius set right before it collapsed.”
“It seems like all the signs are pointing to Chestnut Magnifico as the one causing all the problems around here.” Twilight hypothesized.
“I don’t know who’s behind this or what’s going on but the first thing we need to do is find those relics.” Rainbow decided.
“I agree.” The intellectual of the group nodded. “The relics were here earlier. And if Chestnut is behind this, then they must still be around here somewhere.”
“Chestnut Magnifico is an acclaimed actress.” The fashionista argued with crossed arms.”She’d never do something so dramatic. “
“An actress? Dramatic? Never.” Sunset sarcastically smirked.
“Well, she might do something like this if she were tryin’ to get outta workin’ on a movie she didn’t wanna do.” Applejack pointed out.
“Why don’t Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike and I follow Chestnut Magnifico and see if we can find anything out?” Sunset suggested as she started to walk off the set.
“Let’s do it!” Pinkie cheered in agreement before she followed. Fluttershy and Spike followed suit.
“In the mean time, we should look for the relics.” Twilight continued.
“Where are we supposed ta look? It’s not like there’s some mysterious thief an cloak figure we can chase after an say ‘hey! Tell us where yer keepin’ the relics!’”
“You mean like that one?” Rarity pointed to the figure that matched the exact description lurking in the shadows. Said cloaked figure flinched and turned to the remaining girls. Their features were hidden beneath the shadow of the hood.
“Hey! Stop right there!” Rainbow yelled. The figure ran off. She grabbed the geode around her neck and let the magic fuel her. The athlete sped off in pursuit, kicking up a gust that messed up the girls’ hair. They paused for a second, wondering how she managed to sneak her geode through security before giving chase.
This led to a wild chase scene all over the studio. All the while, snazzy chase music was being played, courtesy of Stalk from an unseen location. The hooded figure managed to outpace Rainbow as they ran through the ruined volcano set, the stored set props, and Chestnut’s trailer. Rainbow finally stopped behind an unknown set, trying to find out where the culprit went. Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight finally caught up to her, panting in exhaustion.
“I can’t believe I lost them!” The athlete complained. “My geode gives me super speed, but I guess being awesomely fast doesn’t help when the person you’re chasing knows their way better than you do.”
Sunset and the others walked around the corner and found their friends. “Hey guys.”
“Any luck finding Chestnut?”
“We couldn’t find her.” The fiery haired girl shook her head.
“And still no Cupcake Fountain.” Pinkie said sadly before perking back up while pulling said treat from her hair and eating it. “But we did find the shipment of cupcakes Silver delivered!”
“Then we got lost, and somehow ended up here. What have you guys been doing?”
“We spotted this super suspicious cloak figure, but then they got away!” Rainbow answered. “They’re here somewhere…”
“Hey!” a new voice called out, grabbing their attention. It was a young man with short blue hair dressed in a polo shirt and slacks. He had an earpiece microphone and a lanyard ID, indicating he was a studio worker. Based on his expression, he seemed panicked. “Where are your costumes? We gotta hurry! I-I’m gonna be so fired if you aren’t ready! The Director wants to shoot in three minutes!” Without even listening for a reply, the man pushed all of the Rainbooms into the costume department to get changed.
In the next moment, they were shoved onto a metropolitan city backdrop set dressed in skintight body suits of various colors and designs, heels, and eye masks save for Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Sunset Shimmer.
Twilight wore a maroon suit with star-like designs and a face mask with goggles. Her hair was styled differently, part of her bangs curled up.
Rarity wore a dark blue body suit with a high collar and various pink gem decorations. She even had gems in her hair.
Applejack work a red, green, and black body suit that only left her eyes, mouth, and cranium exposed. She even had a green hair net on.
Pinkie Pie had a white body suit with magenta lining. It covered her head, but left enough room for her floofy hair to stick out.
Rainbow had on a black costume with lightning bolts on her legs, white gloves, and boots. Her hair was styled differently, being shorter and spikier.
Fluttershy wore a teal costume with purple boots, accents, and butterfly decorations. She had a butterfly-shaped mask and an similarly shaped ornament in her hair, which was swept back and wavy.
Sunset wore a purple, black, and gold costume that was cut below her collar bone. She had on a wig made of wild green hair. As she examined her costume, she noted that she looked like some sort of villain.
Even Spike wasn’t spared as he wore a black eye mask, a small jumpsuit for his size, and a red cape.
“Ah-Ah think there’s been some kind of mistake!” Applejack voiced, finally able to speak from the mad rush of getting ready.
“Wait a minute!” The director called out, taking a closer look at the girls in costume. “…who are these girls?!”
“Th-they’re the Power Ponies!” The worker said, hoping he didn’t mess things up. But his hopes were dashed when the director face palmed. “I’m fired, aren’t I?”
“So fired.”
The girls felt somewhat bad for the worker. The farm girl then noticed someone between the backdrop panels. “Hey! There she is!” The girls rushed over to the opening. But with the gap so narrow, they got stuck.
Meanwhile, Stalk was doing his best to hold in his laughter from the ridiculousness of it all, all the while enjoying the upcoming chase scene. “This is gonna be fun.”
The girls chased after the cloaked figure through a misty street on a cloudy night. Then through a throne room. Then through a bright city street with cars parked. Pinkie, being the last one, slid over one of the cars like in the movies. Then she panicked and ran when the alarm went off.
Now the group chased the culprit through some space station hallway. Rainbow led the charged and urged her exhausted friends to keep up. Unfortunately, they lacked the athlete’s athleticism and stamina. At this point, they were dragging their feet.
Finally, they entered a new room, taking a small break to catch their breath. Once they calmed down, they took note of the new set they were on. It was a city…covered in what seemed to be….chocolate pudding?
“...What’s this place supposed to be?” Applejack wondered.
“And where did she go?”
“She must be around here somewhere…wherever here is…” Twilight suggested. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pike grinned in excitement. She recognized this set.
“Are you kidding?! This is the set of Stormy with a Side of Pudding!”
“Stormy with a side of what now?” The farm girl questioned.
“Oh, guh! It’s only my all-time favorite movie!” The girls only shrugged. “I tried getting you all to watch it with me like, a gazillion, billion times! I heard they use real pudding!” She dashed over to one of the walls, scooped up the brown substance, and slurped it up. “Hohh! They do!” She licked her lips.
“Ugh! We’re running out of time!” Rainbow yelled. “We’re supposed to be finding the missing relics and catching the bad guy! Not eating pudding!” As she ranted, the cloaked figure peered around the corner and prepared a net.
“We’re trying. Maybe we should make our way back to the Daring Do set.” Twilight reasoned. “They’re might’ve been some clues we missed.”
The figure then threw the net and entangled the Rainbooms save for Rainbow Dash. The athlete turned and saw the culprit run away. “Don’t worry!” She clutched her geode. “I got this!” She sped off, leaving a trail of pudding.
She found herself in another empty studio. “…I saw you come in here.” She said warily. “Where are you?” She took note of the door in front of her closing. Steeling her nerves, she rushed in and found herself within the prop storage room. There were various masks, set props, and even monster props. The last one freaked her out until she realized it was just a costume. She then took note of the open locker and took out the dress inside.
“Hey! This is just like the dress Daring Do wore in the Night Club scene! What’s this doing here?” With her fascination, she didn’t notice the culprit sneak behind her and out the door until it was too late. By the time she turned around, they slammed the door shut and locked it.
The athlete tried to wretch the doors open, but her magic was super speed, not super strength. The doors wouldn’t budge no matter how hard she pulled. “H-hello?! Anybody out there?!” She yelled out in hopes of someone hearing her.
There was no response. She almost gave up hope, until she realized she could call her friends…but then realized that they left their phones back at security when they entered the building. So…she resumed yelling for help.
Finally, the girls untangled themselves from the net. “We have to find Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said.
“But I don’t see how.” Rarity argued. “She moved so fast she could be anywhere in the lot right now. Why she thought it necessary to use her geode to have super speed in a movie set I’ll never know.”
“I wish I brought mine.” Sunset spoke. “Just one touch and I could see Chestnut’s memories and get to the bottom of this whole thing.”
“Why didn’t you bring it?” Twilight asked. Ever since Faust showed up weeks ago, they decided it was a good idea to wear their geodes more often as a means of self defense.
“I…forgot to put it on.” She admitted sheepishly. “I woke up late and didn’t have much time to get ready.”
“I know how to find Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie announced. “Follow the pudding!” Once again, the girls stared at her oddly. She then pointed to the spilled pudding and the trail she made. Spike was busy sniffing said trail. “See?”
The puppy caught the scent. “Follow me.” He then scurried off.
“You’re a genius Pinkie Pie!”
“I know~!”
“C’mon! This way!” Sunset led the pursuit of their friend. Pinkie and Twilight were about to leave, but the former shoved the massive bucket of pudding into her hair.
“For the road.” The two then followed. Once the doors slammed shut, Blood Stalk dropped down to the set. He went over and sampled the substance from the walls.
“Hm…they DO use real pudding….but how did they get it to keep? I though this stuff expired unless refrigerated…humans come up with the strangest things…”
Spike had tracked the trail to the studio room Rainbow was in. The trail of pudding stopped here. “There’s no more pudding. So she must be here somewhere.” Pinkie said as they all looked for her.
“Hello?” Twilight called. “Is anyone here?”
“Rainbow Dash? Where are you?!”
A set of doors rattled. Fluttershy, being the closest took notice and approached. As she got closer, she heard the screams of their friend.
“Help! Somebody! I’m trapped in here!”
“Hello? Rainbow Dash? Are you in there?” The usually timid girl asked.
“Yes! Help! I’m locked in!”
“It’s okay, Dashie! We’re here!” She pulled on the doors, but they wouldn’t move.
“I’ll go find somebody with a key.” Sunset offered.
“Or I could just do this.” Applejack said as she was about to touch her geode.
“Hold on, Applejack. We shouldn’t try to break the doors down.” Twlight stopped her. “Let me.” She touched her own geode and purple light covered her extended hand. She pressed it against the lock, moving the mechanisms until she heard a click.
Almost immediately, Rainbow ran out the door and tackled her savior in a hug. “Boy am I so happy to see you!”
“No problem…” She grunted as Rarity and Sunset helped them up.
“How did you guys find me? I’ve gave up yelling and banging on the door five minutes ago.”
“Pudding.” Pinkie answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Never lies.” She then chugged the bucket she picked up earlier.
“Hey, is that the costume that went missing when we got here?” Sunset inquired about the article in the athlete’s hands.
“Yeah. I didn’t see the person who locked me in and there’s still no sign of the relics.”
“Huh. I say we head back ta the scene of the crime. Maybe there’s something there that could lead us ta the relics” The farm girl suggested.
“Hmm…or we could let the culprit lead us to them.” Twilight said as the pieces were coming closer together in her head.
“How?” Rainbow asked. “I just told you I didn’t see who locked me in here.”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea who the thief is, but we’re gonna need Canter Zoom’s help to catch them.” The others looked around in confusion.
Up in the rafters, Stalk had caught up and was rubbing his hands together. “Oh boy…the big reveal is soon~!”
Later…
The girls regrouped on the set where the relics used to be. Canter Zoom, Juniper, and Chestnut were present as well. The missing costume was in the director’s hands. “So you girls found this in the supply closet?”
“We didn’t find the relics, but we don’t think the thief has had the chance to take them off the lot yet.” Twilight answered. “We wanted your permission to search the tri-corner set, maybe we’ll find a clue to where they’re hidden.” As she explained, Pinkie Pie popped in and out of view with a magnifying glass. Her randomness drew Chestnut’s attention before she faced forward again.
“Of course.” The director nodded. “Chestnut, I need you to get to hair and makeup. As soon as we get the relics we’re going to start shooting again.”
“Hm. We’ll see.” She said halfheartedly before she headed off.
“Juniper?” He called to his niece. “Can you do a smoothie run? I’m sure all this sleuthing is going to make everyone thirsty.”
“Absolutely!” She saluted before running off.
“And I have to ask but…why are you girls dressed like the Power Ponies?” The director finally voiced his confusion.
“…it’s a long story.” In their rush to solve the mystery, they all forgot to change back to their clothes.
The cloaked figure snuck through the backgrounds of the ruined volcano set. They made their way to a lone crate at the bottom of a shelf. They bent down and pulled out the three missing relics. As they rose, their hood fell off revealing the culprit to be Juniper Montage.
“Ah-ha!” Rarity called out. “I told you all it wasn’t chestnut.” Alarmed, Juniper spun around and found The Rainbooms and her uncle surrounding her.
“L-Look!” She said. “I found the missing relics!”
“That’s because you stole them in the first place.” Sunset accused.
“She…she wouldn’t!” Canter Zoom refused to believe it.
“She would.” Twilight explained. “And she did. But what she didn’t expect was for Rainbow Dash to come to the tri-corner set before she was able to sneak them off to a safer hiding spot. So she was forced to hide them in the first place she could find. But she knew she couldn’t leave them there. So the first chance she got she tried to sneak them away. Unfortunately for her, we spotted her. But Juniper knows every inch of this place like the back of her hand, as she told us, and was able to trap us and lose Rainbow Dash…for a while. But when Rainbow tracked her down, she locked her in a closet using the keys that gave her access to just about every door in the studio. And that gave her the time to hide the relics here.”
"Wait, when did you figure out it was her?” Rainbow asked.
“I started piecing things together when I got you out of that closet. But I knew Juniper would never admit she was the culprit.” Twilight continued.
“Unless of course she was caught trying to move them again.” Sunset supplied.
“Which was why I told you to send her on that smoothie run.” The intellectual explained to the betrayed Canter. “So she’d think she’d have the opportunity to get the relics off the lot where we’d never find them.”
“…but instead of searching the tri-corner set, you all secretly followed me here.” Juniper finished in dismay.
“But…why would you do this?” Canter asked.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I just can’t stand Chestnut!” Juniper snapped. “She’s always eating all the peanut butter praline crunch bars which are the only candy bars I like.” Meanwhile, Pinkie took a bite of said bar after pulling one from her hair.
“But that’s hardly a reason to-!” But Juniper cut off her uncle.
“And I was mad at you for casting her as Daring Do! I mean, I told you over, and over again how badly I wanted to play Daring Do and you just ignored me!”
“But Juniper! You’re too young! You don’t have any experience!” he argued.
“I know! But I thought if enough things went wrong then maybe Chestnut back out of the movie and then…” She glanced up to the stern and disappointed face of her uncle. “…you would give me a chance?”
“Not only did you jeopardize the production, endanger the safety of the actors and the film crew, but you also lied to me, and took advantage of my trust!”
‘I know…” She said regretfully. “And I’m sorry! I never meant to hurt anyone! I was gonna return the props just as soon as Chestnut quit. I…I hope you can forgive me…”
Canter Zoom glared at her sternly before he sighed. “You’re my niece Juniper. So of course I forgive you. But I’m sorry to say that you’re no longer welcome on this set, and it’ll be a long time before I consider allowing you back here!” He snapped his fingers and a security guard appeared. “Keys!”
Juniper reluctantly handed off her keys before the guard escorted her off the set. But before she walked out the doors, she shot a glare at the Rainbooms for foiling her plot. But before she could fully leave…
“Forgiveness AND punishment? How unusual.” A warped voice spoke out. The others looked around in confusion, but Twilight stiffened. She recognized it. But…why was HE here?!
“Who said that?” Rainbow wondered.
“Who’s there?!” Sunset called out. For some reason, she felt a chill down her spine.
“Over here. Look up!” All heads inclined to the source. The speaker was a man clad in red armor that was fashioned off of a cobra. His visor and chest plate were teal and had a single horn protruding from the forehead. With a small wave, the man dropped down from the rafters and landed on his feet.
“Buon Giorno~!” Stalk greeted in Istallion. “I must say, your little missing relic mystery was certainly entertaining. And you Rainbomb girls solved it within the afternoon, too! Bravo~!” He clapped happily.
“Wh-who are you?! How did you get on this set?!” Canter demanded. “Security!” The guard meant to escort Juniper and several others appeared and rushed at the man. They grabbed him. But Tendrils snaked out of Stalk’s gauntlets and injected lethal venom into two of them. Their skin became discolored before they broke down into particles. He then punched the remaining two, disintegrating them as well.
Everyone was stunned. No one breathed. This man just…killed four people right in front of them with ease. They stared as he dusted his hands, as if he just finished moving furniture. He was so casual…the way he killed those guards.
“Huh…you might wanna upgrade your security. Those guards were pitifully weak.” He then pulled out a cupcake from who knows where and took a bite. “Delicious Cupcake Fountain by the way. I am simply addicted to these things!”
“So it WAS you!” Pinkie snapped, previous shock momentarily forgotten. So he was responsible for the missing Cupcake Fountain?! And how did he even eat that with his helmet on?!
“Why, yes it is! And I’m afraid I’m not done here yet…” He trailed off. His body broke into a mist and vanished from view. They wondered where he went until a familiar yelp reached their ears. They all spun around to see Blood Stalk with his arm around Juniper’s neck. “After all, we have yet to start the true show!”
“U-Uncle Zoom!” She squeaked, eyes wide in sheer terror. “H-Help!”
“Juniper! I-It’s going to be okay!” He tried to console his niece before glaring at Stalk. “What do you want? Money? If it is! I’ll give it to you! Just let her go!”
“Oh nonono, keep your money. You see, Canter Zoom….I greatly respect you and love your movies. They are just so riveting and gripping!” He gushed. “Truly, the mark of one of the greatest directors of our generation!”
“Then why do this?!” He snapped. “Why kill those innocent guards and hold my niece hostage?!”
“You’re upset over her? Just two minutes ago you were mad at her. Why not leave her to her fate!”
“This and that are two different things! My niece may have caused trouble, but she doesn’t deserve this! Let her go!”
“He’s right! Get your stinking arms off her right now!” Rainbow shouted. She and the others went to clutch their geodes, but Stalk immediately pressed his Steam Blade to his hostage’s throat to dissuade them.
“Uh-uh~! No more magic for you girls. Even though it wouldn’t work, I’m not going to take chances should you get crafty like you’re little specs friend there. Long time no see, by the way.” He gestured to Twilight. “So stay back, or just bear the guilt knowing this little trouble maker got her throat slit because you lot couldn’t sit still.” His tone and gestures were strangely jovial, but his words were bone-chilling.
The girls were paralyzed. They couldn’t do anything without setting Stalk off. But given his behavior, he’d likely kill Juniper on a whim anyway! Sure she caused trouble for the movie, but she definitely did not deserve death. Even Twilight was disturbed. She met the man before, but he seemed even crueler than the last time she saw him. But none were more perturbed than Sunset Shimmer. Her instincts were telling her to run now. Whoever Blood Stalk was….he was no man…he was a monster! Spike was the same, already shaking like a leaf.
“Just…just tell me what you want!” Canter pleaded, trying to reason with the mad man. “Why are you here?! Why do this?!”
“What can I say? I’m a huge fan of the big screen. As I said, I saw your little missing prop mystery. I must say, it got a bit bland a few times, but nonetheless enjoyable.”
“You mean…you were watching us the whole time?!” Sunset demanded after finding her voice.
“Of course! Nice Power Pony costumes by the way. It was definitely a riot. Although…like all mysteries, there should be something riveting; captivating elements that just draws the audience in! You know what I’m saying, don’t you?” He asked Juniper, who fearfully shook her head.
“Bah! Uncultured swine…let me dumb it down for you lot! There must be suspense! Drama! The heart-stopping tension that is found in all mysteries! Especially whodunit stories!”
“Wait…you mean?!” It was Pinkie who figured it out.
“Esattamente!” Stalk screamed out. “Exciting mysteries, whodunits, must have a murderer!”
“What? And that’s you?!” Rainbow snapped angrily. She wanted nothing more than to punch the guy’s smug face in. His behavior and voice grated on her nerves. But if she so much as moved, he’d kill Juniper.
“Nope~!…not me…” He glanced to the girl he had in a headlock as he turned the dial on his Steam Blade. “That role’s all on this aspiring little star~!” He blasted a dose of gas that swallowed Juniper Montage.
“DEVIL STEAM!”
Stalk let go and backed away. Juniper screamed as the steam and electricity engulfed her form. “Juniper! No!” Canter tried to rush at his niece to save her, but the girls held him back.
His niece screamed as her form flashed and mutated into something twisted. Its basic structure resembled the Smash monsters. On its arms were rolls of cinema tape one would find on film projectors. The hands were replaced with boxes with lenses. The head of the Smash was more closely reminiscent to an oversized video camera. The only distinguishable feature was the massive lens. This was the Lens Smash.
“…is it panic time?” Fluttershy asked nervously. The girls and Spike could only numbly nod. Canter Zoom was just numb, seeing his niece turn into that monster.
“Beautiful, isn’t she? You should be proud, Zoom! Your niece just got her big debut! Her first role? The monster that runs rampant unless stopped by a dashing hero!” Stalk chuckled as he faced the glaring group, knowing full well they could do nothing. “Now, as you movie folk like to say; lights! Camera!….ACTION!”
The Smash Alert blared out within the underground lab. Everyone stopped with what they were doing as Micro pulled up the coordinates.
“A Smash attack? Now? Where?” Sol asked frantically, antsy for some action, and finding a lead on Faust.
“At Canterlot Studios! That’s where the girls are!”
“What?! We gotta go!” Sol donned his disguise. “Let’s go, Flash!”
“Actually, you go on ahead. I need to take care of something here.” The musician replied, to his friends' shock.
“What?! Why?! The girls need our help!”
“I’m sure you can handle it alone. Besides, this is important for finding the Box.”
“But-!”
“If you don’t leave now, people are gonna get hurt!” Flash retorted. He then tossed the Build Phone and Lion Fullbottle. “Take these and hurry!”
“R-Right! We’ll discuss this later!” Sol ran up the stairs and out the door.
“Why did you do that?” Sandalwood asked. “Wouldn’t it have been better for the both of you to go?”
“…Micro…can I talk to you for a minute upstairs?” Flash asked. “We probably need some air, so why don’t you go on ahead?”
The Lens Smash ran rampant inside the building. The girls were doing their best to minimize collateral damage while evacuating the building and getting Canter Zoom to safety, despite his protests about leaving his niece alone. Rarity had her shields up to deflect the Smash’s attacks, which consisted of focused lasers from its lenses. Rainbow ran through the building, warning other people of the danger and to evacuate. Sunset and Fluttershy helped out. Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie stayed behind to keep the Smash occupied.
The moment the Smash went on the offensive, Blood Stalk disappeared in a puff of mist. Rainbow Dash yelled angrily about him being a coward before narrowly dodging a laser beam.
Knowing how much damage could be caused to the studio, the vanguard forced the Smash outside the building out in the open. Rarity forced it back using her shields while Applejack lent a hand and added more power to the push.
The Smash tumbled to the open area that was the studio back lot. It lumbered back up as the four girls surrounded it. Rarity had her shields ready while Twilight levitated some random debris. Pinkie pulled out the sweets stored in her hair while Applejack cracked her knuckles.
The Lens Smash roared as its head lens glowed up. Instantly, an energy beam shot out at the four. Rarity erected her shields to black the attack. The crystalline properties of the shield caused the blast to refract and deflect once the beam hit it. Stray beams cut into the surrounding ground and some nicked nearby buildings.
“Mr. Zoom! You can’t stay here!” Sunset repeated as she tried to convince the man to leave.
“It’s too dangerous!” Fluttershy added.
“My niece is out there! I can’t just leave her!”
“She won’t even recognize you in that state! She’ll attack you like the others!”
“I don’t care!” He said stubbornly as he pulled out of their grip and ran to the scene of the commotion. “I’m not leaving family behind!”
“Wait!” But the director proved to be surprisingly fast as he already made it out the door. A few seconds later, Rainbow sped in.
“Okay, I got everyone else evacuated. I couldn’t find where Chestnut went, but I’m assuming she’s safe since she’s not in the building. What did I miss?” Her friends filled her in on what transpired. “….oh come on!”
“Nothing’s working!” Rarity screeched as they ducked below another laser blast.
They had been trying to stop the rampaging Juniper, but nothing they threw at it worked. The Smash would blast the rubble Twilight threw at it with its lasers. Applejack can’t even get close due to the lasers. And Pinkie’s explosions, while working to a degree, aren’t enough to take it down for good. All Rarity could do is stop the lasers from hitting anyone with her shields. She tried to use them as blades, but like with her friend’s sweet bombs, the damage was minimal.
“Just once! Once! Can’t the author give us a break and NOT put us in dangerous scenarios like this, only for Build and/or Cross-Z to save the day?!” Pinkie screamed at the sky. “He’s practically trying to get us killed!”
“Now ain’t the time for crazy talk, Pinkie!” Applejack retorted. “What do we do now?!”
Twilight opened her mouth to suggest something, but something wrapped around her mouth, silencing her. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be cinema film tape. The tape yanked back, dragging her from their hiding spot and out in the open. “Twilight!”
The girl shook her head as her senses cleared up from the crash. She saw the lenses on the Smash light up again. Rarity flung out her shields to block what they expected was a laser, only to receive a blinding flash of light instead.
The move was unexpected and sudden that none, save for Spike, closed their eyes in time. Rarity’s aim was thrown off and landed too far away from Twilight, who rapidly blinked to try to regain her vision. Once it was assured that all opposition was useless, the Smash charged up its lasers once more. Spike, peered out from the corner, only for his eyes widen in horror. “Twilight! Get out of the way!”
But the girl couldn’t see where she was going and stumbled. She wasn’t going to make it. Then the familiar roar of a motorcycle filled their ears.
A volley of lasers impacted the Smash’s arms, throwing its aim off and missing the blinded girls. Sol fired a few more shots at the Smash, forcing it to backpedal. “Step away from the Power Ponies!” He yelled as he stopped the Machine Builder between it and the girls.
After his arrival, Canter Zoom barreled out of the door, head whipping wildly to find his transformed niece. His eyes stopped once he saw the hooded figure of Cross-Z standing between his niece and the Rainbooms. When did he get here?!
“I don’t know how you got here. Whether Stalk made you or Faust sent you here, but I do know one thing.” He attached the Driver to his waist and pulled out the Dragon Fullbottle. “You’re not hurting anyone else while I’m here!”
Electric Samba blared out from a small mechanical dragon that dropped into his hand in its adapter form.
Sol shook the Dragon Bottle, twisted the cap, and inserted it into the slot with ease.
“WAKE UP!”
“CROSS-Z DRAGON!”
He turned the crank as the Driver light flashed a myriad of colors. The armor panels manifested, one in front and one at the back. But another materialized to the left of his body, creating what resembled a dragon with wings.
“ARE YOU READY?!”
Falling into a fighting stance, Sol glared in determination. “Henshin!” He stood at attention as the armor pieces converged onto him.
“WAKE UP BURNING!”
The armor halves were donned onto his body while the winged dragon attached itself to his back. Its wings wrapped around his shoulders and its head rested on his helmet, completing his armor.
“GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!”
“YEAH!”
“BEAT CROZZER!”
Immediately, Cross-Z summoned his sword and charged at the Smash. He swung, but the Smash blocked it with its arms. He swung his leg for a sweep kick and managed to trip the Smash. He followed up with a stab, but it countered by blinding him with a flash. Unlike the girls who became blinded, he was momentarily stunned thanks to the helmet. But it was enough for the Smash to kick him away as it climbed back up.
While the girls waited to regain their sight, they heard the sounds of a conflict. Canter Zoom, meanwhile, was transfixed. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
While he was still worried to high heaven about his niece, he still couldn’t help but be completely captivated by the scene he’s watching now. It was simply astounding! Stupendous! He filmed action scenes before, but this took the cake. And that transformation sequence! The fight choreography! He watched actions shows ever since he was a kid, and thought it was one of the best images he’d seen in his life.
His inner child and director-side screamed at seeing something so action-packed.
Cross-Z used his blade to bat away any incoming lasers as he got close and dragged his blade down on the Smash’s body. It stumbled from the injury but retaliated by using its tape to wrap up the sword.
“Hey! Let go!” The Rider held his grip tight. Using sheer strength, he overpowered the Smash and yanked it forward. The Smash fell on its face. Sol flipped over and slammed his heel into the back of its head as he came down, driving it further into the earth. The brutality snapped Canter’s amazement of the battle.
“S-Stop! Don’t hurt her too much! That’s my niece you’re fighting!” He yelled out to the Rider. At this point, the rest of the Rainbooms had finally caught up.
“Wait, what?” Cross-Z was surprised by the revelation. But his hesitation was enough for the Smash to counter aiming one of its lenses at his body and blasting him with another energy beam. The fighter was sent flying until he crashed into a nearby golf cart. The vehicle crumpled beneath his weight. He pulled himself out of the wreckage and growled. “I better end this quickly.” From his side, he pulled out the Lock Bottle and inserted it into his sword.
“SPECIAL TUNE!”
The meter along the flat of the blade lit up. He pulled the pommel twice.
“HIT PARADE!”
“HIT PARADE!”
Sol held the sword like one would wield a baseball bat. Blue flames had gathered along the blade as the air seemed to distort from the heat it produced. The sword seemed to sing; upbeat music seemed to play as it charged up.
“Take this!” He swung the sword with all his might, launching a stream of dark blue fire at the enemy.
“MILLION SLASH!”
The Smash skidded back from the fiery swing. Its body sparked uncontrollably. But unlike most, it proved to be quite resilient. With an enraged cry, it flung out its arms, shooting out several coils of tape at the Rider.
The tape wrapped around his wrists, loosening his grip on his sword. He tried to break free, but they were wrapped to tightly. The slack of the tape tightened as it tried to pull him in. At first, he resisted, neither side moving an inch. Unlike before, the Smash seemed more resistant. But then, he got an idea. Quickly, he ran at the Smash, causing it to backpedal from the sudden slack. He swerved to the side. He kicked off the wall and twirled his arms, letting the slack tape wrap around the Lens Smash.
Once the Smash was tied up, his foot ignited. He stomped on the remaining tape that connected him to the Smash, freeing him from its grasp. “Alright…let’s try this again!”
Cross-Z turned the handle on the Build Driver. Out from nowhere, an energy construct in the form of a blue, eastern dragon covered in orange fire flew around Sol until it stopped behind him.
“What the-?! Where did that Dragon come from?!” Canter exclaimed. Seriously, it was like it appeared out of nowhere!
Sol crouched down, legs and arms spread apart. The dragon behind him roared, its body growing brighter as power surged through his body, his right foot gathering blue flames.
“READY? GO!”
“DRAGONIC FINISH!”
He flew forward as the Dragon’s flames propelled him. With a devastating kick, he broke through the Lens Smash’s defense. Its body caught on blue fire as Sol landed on his feet. The Smash exploded in a burst of green energy and collapsed on the ground motionless.
“Juniper!” Canter tried to run out to his niece, but the girls held him back.
“She’ll be okay! This happens every time!” Sunset replied.
“Wh-what’ll happen to her now?! How do we change her back!”
“I don’t know the process, but the Rider will know what to do.” Cross-Z approached the still form of Juniper and pulled out an Empty Bottle to extract the essence.
The essence was extracted and Juniper returned to normal. But…the essence wasn’t extracted by the Rider’s bottle. Instead it flew to the opposite direction, where a familiar red Cobra held out an Empty Bottle of his own. Once it was filled, he pocketed it.
“Bravo~! Magnificent! Stupendous performance!” Blood Stalk clapped as he appeared right next to Canter Zoom.
“Gah!” He and the girls backpedaled from his sudden appearance. “Where did you come from?!”
“Nothing to concern your pretty little heads with.” The Snake waved them off.
“STALK!” Cross-Z roared as he picked up his fallen sword and rushed at him. He swung his blade and slammed it into his raised Steam Blade. “You’re going down! And I'll be taking that Bottle back!”
“Sorry, but no more freebies for you. And you’re still millennia too early to beat me, boy!” He broke off the blade lock but Sol followed with a flaming punch. Stalk caught the blazing fist with ease.
“Oh? A 3.4 Hazard Level? Amazing! Even now, you’re still growing, little Dragon!”
“Shut up!” He flipped over and delivered a jumping axe kick to his visor. The hit briefly dazed him as he stumbled back. “Now tell me where the Box is!”
“Sorry, but you’re not getting that info out of me.” He teleported away in a cloud of mist. Sol growled at him getting away so easily…until he actually reappeared.
“Oh, that’s right!” He palmed a fist in realization. “Before I go…here’s a little token for your trouble. As thanks for that entertaining show you put on.” He threw a wadded up paper at him. “Make use of it what you will….Ciao~!”
“Wait!”But like before, he was too slow to stop his teleportation. He ran through the cloud and crashed into a pile of trash cans. After getting back up and begrudgingly pocketing the paper, Sol went over to the still form of Juniper, who remained unconscious. “Hey, are you okay? Please! Wake up!”
The girl’s eyes twitched before they slowly opened, staring at the man in the Dragon helmet in her face. Her entire body ached and her head felt like someone stuffed it with cotton. “H-huh?”
“Are you okay? Don’t worry! Help is on the way!” Sol assured.
“Juniper!” Canter ran into view, kneeling next to her niece. “Are you okay? Please, answer me!” Tears of worry and relief ran down his face. He was relieved she was still alive.
“She’ll be okay.” Cross-Z answered. “She just needs a hospital at the moment.”
“Thank you…thank you so much.” Canter grabbed his hands and shook them strongly.
“No problem. And sorry, but I need to go. I got a snake to catch!” With a salute, he hopped onto the Machine Builder. But before he left, he turned to face them again. “Oh yeah! Looking forward to the Daring Do Movie! I’m a huge fan and can’t wait to see it! See ya!”
He immediately drove off in pursuit of Blood Stalk, leaving the director, his niece, and the Rainbooms alone. The girls that fought now recovered their eyesight and walked up to them.
It was minutes later, after Canter dialed up an ambulance and police about the incident that Chestnut showed up. “Canter, baby! Do I have good news for you!” She paused after taking in the current state of the surrounding area. “….did I miss something?”
“I’m back!” Sol called out tiredly as he entered the lab. He had been searching for Stalk for quite a while. They weren’t able to track his signal due to a lack of a bug on him, so he ended up searching blindly. He went back to any places he might’ve been, such as their old hide outs, but nothing turned up. Exhausted, he finally turned back. “Found nothing. As usual…why didn’t you give me a bug to place on him back then?”
“Sorry, Sol. But we only had time to make one. I thought Rogue would be a better target as he seemed more secretive than Stalk.” Flash answered.
“It’s fine. So what now? What are you guys doing?” He then took note of attendance. Flash and Micro were here, but Sandalwood was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go?
“Finding Pandora’s Box.” He answered. “We think we have a way to find them.”
“Wait, really?” The fighter asked as he approached the seated Micro.
“We believe so. We finally picked up Night Rogue’s tracker. Seems like he finally transformed. Happened while we were upstairs. Once we locked onto that, we found the Box’s location, too. It seemed like they were in the same place.” The resident genius types a few keys and pulled up a marked map. “The location is here. In the factory district, a Tirek Industries-owned factory to be precise.”
“Tirek again? Man, that old man really needs to keep better watch of his property if Faust is just gonna use them as bases!”
“Yeah…he does.” The gears in Flash’s head turned.
“So what do we do now?”
“Now? We prep up for tomorrow’s Raid.” The musician answered. “We need to be rested and well prepared to attack Faust. For all we know, both Stalk and Rogue will be there on top of several guards.”
“Got it. Oh yeah, almost forgot.” Sol reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper Stalk handed him. “I got this back at the studio. Think this is important?”
“Lemme see.” Micro took the paper and unfurled it. It revealed a list of times and numbers. “Huh? Some kind of code?”
“Dunno. Thought it was weird when I first read it. Could be Stalk trolling us again or something.”
“Maybe. But for now, get some rest. I know I sent you out and I’m sorry. But come tomorrow, we’re finally getting the Box back and stopping Faust, once and for all.”
“Okay…well, good night, guys…” The fighter got up and left. Once they were sure he left, Micro turned to Flash.
“Why did you do that?”
“I have my reasons Micro, that’s all I have to say.” The musician said no more. His thoughts drifting back to what happened hours ago.
Earlier…
After Sol had left, Flash instructed Micro to get some fresh air before they went back to work finding Faust. It was just him and Sandalwood in the room, who looked at him in confusion.
“What’s up, dude? Why did you do that?”
“I have my reasons.” Flash answered. He then handed him a bag. “Here.”
Confused by what he was given, he opened the bag to find the two Smash Bottles that were extracted. “Huh? Why are you giving these to me?”
“Well, we need them purified.” Flash answered. “The more we have, the better our chances will be, right?”
“Uh, sure. Okay.” He stashed the bag away and placed the two bottles in the Bottle Purifier. He never tried two at once, but they needed them ASAP. It takes a few hours to purify a single bottle. And if they were going to do this raid soon, he needed to double time it. So hopefully he can finish it soon. He entered the chamber just as Flash turned and went upstairs.
“So what did you want to talk with me about?” Micro asked as he saw his friend approach.
“I just thought we needed a break. I mean, we’ve been focused on the Box for a while, and you looked like you needed some air.”
“But what about Sol?”
“I figured a solo fight like this will help his experience for when we finally find the Box.” He answered.
“But what if it’s too much for him?” He was greeted with a raised brow. “Oh, you know what I mean. What if Stalk or Rogue step in?”
“If they do, I’ll go back him up. And IF Rogue appears, we can track him again.”
“Hold on.” Micro raised a hand. “You mean you used Sol…as bait? This isn’t like you, Flash!”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.” He shook his head. “I let Sol go because I trust him. Just as I trust you to find the Box and Sandalwood to purify bottles…and make weapon ideas. I just want you guys to trust me all the same. We’re a team after all.”
The bespectacled teen looked at his friend with wide eyes as he processed those words. Then he nodded with a determined face. “I-I got it! I won’t let you down!”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Flash nodded gratefully, concealing his remorse.
Now…
‘Sorry guys. But I need to test my theory. Stalk knows what we plan, even when he shouldn’t be able to. That can only mean one thing.’ Flash sighed as he stared up at the ceiling, contemplating his thoughts. ‘…we’re being bugged somehow.’
He then noticed that Sandalwood still wasn’t done with the purification process. He just hoped his plan doesn’t leave his friend with long term health issues from this. Good thing Micro was too preoccupied to notice. He needed to be sure who was the leak. It was likely one of his friends was bugged somehow, and this separation of tasks will help him determine who it may be.
It wasn’t until hours later, after Micro and Flash had left, that Sandalwood had finished. The teen was so exhausted he collapsed as soon as the door opened up. He laid there snoring until sunrise.
Meanwhile…
In the new Faust hideout, Shining Armor, in his Night Rogue state, was fiddling with his gun, waiting for Stalk to return. A moment later, the snake appeared in a burst of steam.
“I’m back!” Stalk greeted. He had a sweater tied around his shoulders and a beret on his head. Next to him was some sort of fountain filled with….cupcakes? “And we won’t have to worry about a lack of cupcakes ever again!”
“You’re late, Stalk.” Shining glared. “You were supposed to get back as soon as you finished the objective. What took you so long?”
“Well, it took some time getting everything prepped up, so I figured I’d take a tour around the studio. I have a feeling the Daring Do movie will be promising.” He removed the pieces of clothing from his armor.
“So, given how you saw fit to goof around, I take it you finished your task.”
“Yes I did.” He chimed as he pulled out the Smash Bottle. “One Smash Bottle.”
“Good. Now, before you left, you said something about a plan. What is it?”
“Why, isn’t it obvious?” Stalk questioned as he grabbed another cupcake. “…A plan to take everything in one go.”
To Be Continued…